"We're in a global recession, and everyone is being bombarded with bouncy, happy music," singer Paul Smith said recently – a bit richly, given the jauntiness of Maximo Park's own output. The difference is that if Maximo weren't bouncing they'd be crying, and on their fourth album, the formless anxiety previously kept at bay by those bright, jerky guitars seems to be getting the upper hand. The title track, as spiky a thing as they've ever done, is riven by Smith's increasingly frantic mayday call: "England is sick and I'm a casualty … the daily grind, the moral wealth – a portrait of the national health!" he screeches. The pivotal line in the atypically grungy Banlieue – "Here come the animals" – is another yelp of politically motivated disquiet. His jangled nerves infect the rest of the band: throughout the album, the guitars and electronics fizz with tension. Despite initial appearances, though, social commentary doesn't play a big part; elsewhere, as on the careworn The Undercurrents, they revert to the usual examinations of why love is so foul. Overall: energised and good fun.